Means for preventing fraudulent manipulation of car seals



May 13 1924. H 1,493,793

c. s. RAILSBACK MEANS FOR PREVENTING FRAUDULENT MANIPULATION OF CAR SEALS Filed Aug. 6. 1921 1 N VEN TOR.

@4 Ghas. SRailsback ATTORNEY. m)

Patented May 13, 1924.

*gu l -T PATENT OFFICE CHARLES s.'nAI sB omonooLortano srnrnes, oonoitano.

' MEANS ron' PREVENTING 'FRAUDULENT' MANIPULATION or can SEALS.

. Application filed August 6,192l. Serial No. 490,277.

To all whom it mag concern: .i 1

Be it known that I, CHARLESPSI RAILS- BACK, acitizen of the United States, residing at ColoradoSprings, in the county of-El Paso, and State of Colorado, have invented A certain new and useful Improvements in .Means for Preventing Fraudulent Manipulation of Car Seals, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to means for 'preventing fraudulent manipulation of car seals, and its principal object is to provide inoperative relation to a fastening 0f the typeused onrailway car doors, an appliance of simple Construction which: prevents the restoration of -a seal applied'to said fastening to a locked condition after it has been broken-or has otherwise been opened, with evil intent. i

It is a well-known fact that railroad companics and shippers are continually subject to losses owing to the theft'of merchandise from cars after the doors have been sealed at the place of loading; V

The devices most commonly used for-the purpose of sealing housing haszan opening to receive the free end'ofthe'strap after it has been passed throughan apertureof a fastening ofthe hasp and staple type commonly usecl on ".doors of railroad cars, and its strap upon entering the housing is engaged by thelocking meansuconcealed therein? which automatieallyxsecures it against withdrawalia 1' His a frequent occurence thatbefore a car thus sealed reaches its destination, part of its contents are stolen by persons who have the cunning of opening theseal and vents discovery of its having been tampered "with, withoutclose and careful inspection.

Principal among these method of fraudulent manipulation of the seal are breaking tofthe housingin which the lock is concealed and subsequently refastening the sevi ,or'byhooking one of said ends into the apertureof the lock housing.

:access to the housingo-f the lockaby which ered vparts thereof, or cutting thestrap and later restoring its continuity bybending the endsof its severedparts upon'each" other liThe' last described methods etvieeei necessitate a reduction in the length of the :strapand the other method requires ready the car door consist of a lock enclosed in ahousing securely fastened ;at*the:end of a strap of pliable metal. The

the ends of the strap are secured, and itwill it inaocessible for fraudulent manipulation,

destruction," and consequent reparation of the seal by any of the? above described methods is effectively prevented and any attempt .to gain access. to the car by breakage I,

of the seal is readily detectedi I It is upon the principle of protecting the seal by the abovestated preventive meas ures that'the present invention is based, and I desire it understood that while in-theaccompanying drawings my invention has been shown as applied to a particular type offastening, maybeeffectively employed in connection with fastenings of different construction by immaterial variations in the v form and arrangement of its parts, falling well: within the scope of the invention as defined in the hereunto appended claims.

In the drawings in the several views of which like pa rts are similarly designated,

and staple lock of a freight car door showing invention inoperative relation'to a seal by which the parts ofthe fastening are connected-{' l Figure 1 represents aface view of a hasp Figure 2', a section on the line 2-2, Figure 1 drawn to an enlarged scale;

"Figure an enlarged transverse section along the line 3+3, Figural, and

Figure 4;, 'a 'f'agmentary section the line 45-4, Figure2. e

Referring more specifically'to the drawingsthe referencenumeraIsQ and 3' desigfnaterespectively thefstaple and the hasp of the fastening, which are held together by a sliding'bolt 4. The staple projects from a plate 5 by means offwhich'it is fastened to the door frame of the car, and the hasp is pivotally attached to the car 'door by a staple or eye bolt 6 passing through an aperture'at one ofits ends. e The hasp has at itsifree end aneye toreceive the staple of the fastening-and the plate totwhich the staple is attached has a slideway 7 for the up and downward movement of the bolts 1" v f The bolt-which normally extends in an opening'of the hasp, has a forwardly pros ecting lip 8 above and in-close proximity ahead 9" of suificientiweight to retain it taken on to the-staple 2 and. it has at its upper end i in its locked position by the force of gravity.

The lip of the bolt and the hasp have registering slots 2 and 8 for the passage of the strap of the seal which in its entirety has been designated by the reference character 10.

The fastening so far described is one commonly used on freight cars and the seal shown in the drawings and hereinafter to be described, is of a type universally adopted by railroads throughout the country, as a protection against pilferage of the contents of their cars.

The seal consists of a lock enclosed in a housing 12 of spherical form, which is usually made in two sections connected by a circumferential head. A strap 13 of phable metal is permanently fastened at one end inside the housing and the latter has an opening 14L to admit the free end of the strap to the lock.

The application of my invention to a fastening of the type shown in the draw ings and herein described requires the elongation of the locking bolt for the purpose of increasing the distance between its head and the staple, socketing of the head of the bolt to provide a pocket 15 fo locking element of the seal and widening of the slot 8? in the lip of the bolt for a purpose which will later be explained.

The distance between the head of the bolt and the staple of the fastening when the bolt is in its locked position, is such that the strap of the seal when doubled through the slot of the staple and fastened by the look within the pocket of the bolt head, is taut and prevents any slack or play which might permit of its being shortened in the manner and for the purpose hereinbefore explained.

The pocket 15 provided by the socketed head of the bolt, is of sufiicient depth and diameter to admit the locking element of the seal when entered at the top thereof. Its lower portion is offset to one side, as shown in Figure 4, to prevent access to the circumferential bead which connects the sections of the housing, by the insertion of a pointed or sharp edged tool, and its bottom has a slot 16 for the passage of the two parts of the doubled strap.

The object of increasing the width of the slot 8 in the lip of the bolt is to prevent of the strap being held in place by a wedge driven through the registering slots of the staple and the lip after it has been cut at a point between or in close proximity to these parts.

It will be apparent that with a seal thus arranged its fraudulent manipulation without detection is practically impossible. The pocket provided by. the socketed head of the bolt, protects the locking element of the seal so as to positively prevent its being 1 slot in the lip of the locking bolt prevents fastening of the strap by means of a wedge as hereinbefore explained.

It will be readily understood from the above description of the advantages of the invention that it may be employed in connection with fastenings which differ in con-' struction from that shown in the drawings, even to the extent of eliminating the looking bolt, it being evident that its essential requirement is the provision of a protective pocket for the locking element of the seal at a distance from the part of the fastening engaged by the loop of the strap of the same, which necessitates of the strap being drawn taut between the fastening and the pocket to bring it in operative with the look inside the housing.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. The combination with a fastening and a seal including a strap engaging with a part of the fastening and a lock securing the ends of the strap together, of a pocket adapted to receive the lock of the seal.

2. The combination with a fastening and a seal including a strap engaging with a part of the fastening and a lock securing the ends of the strap, of means adapted to engagement predetermine the extent of the strap be-" relative to the part of the fastening engaged by the strap of the same, to necessitate of the strap being drawn taut between said part and the pocket for the operative engagement of its end with the lock.

4. The combination with a fastening and a seal including a strap engaging'with a part of the fastening and a lock securing the ends of the strap, of a pocket adapted to receive the lock of the seal, and having an opening vinits bottom to admit the strap of the same.

5. The combination with a fastening and a seal including a strap engaging with a part of the fastening and a lock securing the ends of the strap, of a pocket adapted to receive the lock of the seal, and having an opening in its bottom to admit the strap of the same, the bottom portion of said pocket being offset with relation to its outer portion through which the lock is entered.

6. The combination with a fastening comprising a hasp and an apertured staple, and a seal having a doubled strap passing through the aperture of the staple and a lock securing an end of the strap, of a pocket for the lock arranged relative to the staple, to necessitate of the strap being drawn taut between the staple and the pocket for the operative engagement of its end with the lock.

7. The combination with a hasp-andstaple fastening, and a seal comprising a strap engaging with a part of the fastening and a lock securing the ends of the strap, of a locking-bolt provided with a socketed head adapted to contain the lock of the seal, and having in the bottom of its socket, an opening to admit the strap of the same.

8. The combination of a fastening comprising a hasp and an apertured staple, a car seal composed of a doubled strap passing through the aperture of the staple and a lock adapted to secure an end of the strap, and a locking bolt provided with a socketed head adapted to contain the lock of the seal and having in the bottom of its socket, an opening to admit the strap of the same, said head being disposed relative to the staple when the bolt is in its locking position, to necessitate of the strap being drawn taut for the operative engagement of its end with the lock.

9. The combination of a fastening comprising a hasp and an apertured staple, a

car seal composed of a doubled strap passing through the aperture of the staple and a lock adapted to secure an end of the strap, and a locking bolt having a lip provided with an aperture which registers with the aperture of the staple for the passage of the strap, and a socketed head adapted to contain the lock and having in the bottom of its socket, an opening to admit the strap. I

10. The combination of a fastening comprising a hasp and an apertured staple, a car seal composed of a doubled strap passing through the aperture of the staple and a lock adapted to secure an end of the strap, and a locking bolt having a lip provided with an aperture of different width which registers with the aperture of the staple for the passage of the strap, and a socketed head adapted to contain the lock and having in the bottom of its socket, an opening to admit the strap.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

CHARLES S. RAILSBAGK. 

